The Political Trenches: Local Government At Work · The Political Trenches

Full Interview: MMA President Nicole Chychota, and MMA Executive Director Adrienne Bestland

February 9, 2026·34 min·2 clips

Adrienne says nearly 60% of Manitoba CAOs plan to retire in the next 10 years.

Municipal administration sits behind the scenes. The conversation opens with the Manitoba Municipal Administrators, a professional body that has supported administrators since 1931 and now has more than 300 members. Its work is plain but necessary: education, advocacy, professional development, and connection for people doing municipal work across Manitoba. Nicole starts with the CAO role. She describes a job that changes with the community, the council, and the people in the office. The CAO has to take council's vision and turn it into administration that can actually run. That sounds tidy until council relationships enter the room. Nicole treats mutual respect and open communication as the ideal, while being honest that some administrators are working through tougher dynamics. The useful advice here is practical, almost workplace survival craft. Keep communication formal. Try to keep emotion from driving the exchange. When things get tense, call a mentor or a trusted colleague before the problem gets bigger. The host then brings it down to Portage-la-Prairie. Nicole talks about stepping into an established city administration, with known predecessors and a workplace rhythm already in motion. There is some weight in that. She has to learn the team, find her own stride, and keep the momentum that was already there. Mentorship comes back into the story because Nathan is still in the community and has been available as a supportive presence during the transition. The episode stays close to municipal reality: role definition, inherited workplace habits, and the working line between council and administration. Near the close, Adrienne says administrators should be well placed in the coming years. Nicole shares that optimism, pointing to member resilience, movement on requests to the province, and possible changes to the act. It is not a victory lap. It is a grounded look at demanding, relationship-heavy work at a moment that may be shifting.

As heard by us

A grounded look at how Manitoba CAOs turn council direction into municipal work.

The Political Trenches finds a clear angle on the chief administrative officer's place in local government: the spot where elected direction has to become everyday municipal work.

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Want to know how a Manitoba CAO turns council's vision into budgets, projects, and municipal reality?

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